Herts Club

Notes and guidance for submitting bird records

It is easy to submit your bird records through the website. All records will go straight into the Herts Bird Club data base, will be used to compile the annual Bird Report and then kept in our archive for future reference. Interesting and more unusual sightings will (after moderation) appear in ‘recent sightings’ on the website home page. We have a team of moderators and aim to update the sightings every day. We will not post breeding records of sensitive species, such as Red Kite and Raven, during the breeding season. A list of species and the type of record required for each is at the end of this document.

Please follow the guidance below to enter your records:

• Enter your name and your email address. • Enter the date of your sighting. • Select the site where you saw the bird(s) there are two options, either predictive text – start typing the name of the site and a list of options will appear – or select the site from the drop down box. Most key sites, over 800, are already in the system, so please check the full site list before using the ‘other site’ option. You will find a full list of sites and their grid references on the ‘Sites Guide’ webpage. • If your site is not listed, please select the closest option from the list and add precise location in the 'comments' box or select ‘other’ and add details in the comments box. • Enter the species seen by typing in the predictive text box or selecting the species group and species from the drop-down box. A full list of species and the type of record required for each is below. • Enter the number of seen in the ‘count’ box. • Enter the breeding status where appropriate, by choosing from the drop-down box • Add any comments, eg, precise location details, subspecies details, interesting notes. • Click ‘add record’ and another form will appear for your next record. You will see that in the ‘next record’ screen all the fields are auto-filled. This makes it easy to add another species at the same site. • Note you can only have one site and one species per record. Do not add extra species in the comments box, they will not be recorded. • When you have entered all your records or a batch of 20 records you will be prompted to submit them. A new screen will appear giving you the chance to review and correct all your records, before finally submitting them.

Rare birds Certain species which are rare to Hertfordshire require a description before we can accept the record; the full rarity’s list is below. You can either add the description in the comments box or submit a separate Rarity’s form (you can download a copy of the form from the ‘Links’ webpage. Records of nationally rare species will be submitted for consideration to the British Birds Rarity Committee by the Herts Bird Club recorder. More details from Tony Blake at [email protected]

Breeding Birds We want records of breeding birds to contribute to the Herts Atlas project, so please add breeding status where known.

New species If the bird species you have seen is not on the list it will be something really special, so please email the details to the Bird Recorder.

New site If your site is not on the list and you would like to add it please email the Bird Club Webmaster, Alan Gardiner at [email protected]

Photographs Please email your photos to Jack Fearnside for posting on the photos webpage.

Still need help? Please contact our web co-ordinator, Alan Gardiner, at [email protected] .

Guidelines for bird records and species list

These guidelines indicate the type of records required for each species.

Where indicated records of some species will considered by the Herts Rare Birds Panel and additional information is required. A description form is available to download from the ‘Links’ webpage (in MS Word format), send your completed form by post or email to the County Bird Recorder, [email protected] .

Key to abbreviations

Bold Species considered by the Italics Species considered by the Herts British Birds Rarity Committee; Rare Birds Panel; all records all records required required All All records required MM Dated monthly maxima from frequently visited sites/significant counts from elsewhere B All breeding records >n Minimum count required R Roost counts C Colonies U Unusual records P Birds on passage W Wintering records F/L First and last dates for migrants TC Territory counts

The species list follows: Species list & notes Pintail (All) Common Crane Garganey (All) Great Bustard Red-throated Diver Blue-winged Teal Oystercatcher (All) Black-throated Diver Shoveler (MM B) Black-winged Stilt Great Northern Diver Red-crested Pochard (All) Avocet Little Grebe (MM B) Pochard (MM B) Stone Curlew Great Crested Grebe (MM Ring Necked Duck Little Ringed Plover (All) B) Ferruginous Duck Ringed Plover (All) Red-necked Grebe Aythya Hybrid Kentish Plover Slavonian Grebe Tufted Duck (MM B) Curlew (All) Black-necked Grebe (All) Greater Scaup (All) Spotted Redshank (All) Fulmar Lesser Scaup Redshank (All) Manx Shearwater Eider Marsh Sandpiper Storm Petrel Long-tailed Duck Greenshank (All) Leach's Petrel Common Scoter (All) Lesser Yellowlegs Gannet Velvet Scoter Solitary Sandpiper Cormorant (MM B) Goldeneye (MM F/L) Green Sandpiper (MM P) Shag Smew (All) Common Sandpiper (All) Bittern (All) Red-brstd Merganser Wood Sandpiper (All) Little Bittern Goosander (All) Spotted Sandpiper Night Heron Ruddy Duck (All) Turnstone (All) Squacco Heron Honey Buzzard Red-necked Phalarope Great White Egret Black Kite Grey Phalarope Cattle Egret Red Kite (All) Pomarine Skua Little Egret (All) White-tailed Eagle Arctic Skua Grey Heron (MM B) Marsh Harrier (All) Long-tailed Skua Purple Heron Hen Harrier Great Skua Black Stork Montagu's Harrier Mediterranean Gull (All) White Stork Goshawk Little Gull (All) Glossy Ibis Sparrowhawk (B) Sabine's Gull Spoonbill Buzzard (All) Black-headed Gull (MM Mute Swan (MM B) Rough-legged Buzzard >50 R) Bewick's Swan (All) Osprey (All) Common Gull (MM R) Whooper Swan Kestrel (B) Lesser Black-backd Gull Wild geese sp. (All) Red-footed Falcon (MM,R) Bean Goose Merlin Caspian Gull Pink-footed Goose Hobby (All) Herring Gull (MM R) White-fronted Goose Peregrine (All) Iceland Gull Greylag Goose (MM B) Red-legged Partridge (>5 Glaucous Gull Canada Goose (>50 B) B) Yellow-legged Gull Barnacle Goose Grey Partridge (All) Great Black-backed Gull Brent Goose (All) Quail (All) (MM R) Egyptian Goose (All) Pheasant (>25) Kittiwake (All) Shelduck (All) Lady Amherst's Caspian Tern Muscovy Duck (All) Pheasant Sandwich Tern(All) Mandarin (All) Golden Pheasant (All) Roseate Tern Wood Duck (All) (MM B F/L) Common Tern (MM F/L B) Wigeon (MM F/L) Spotted Crake Arctic Tern (All) American Wigeon Little Crake Tern (Commic) (All) Gadwall (MM B) Baillon's Crake Little Tern (All) Teal (MM B) Corncrake Black Tern (All) Green-winged Teal Moorhen (MM >20) White-winged Black Tern Mallard (MM >40) Coot (MM >20) Guillemot Razorbill Bluethroat Magpie (>10 R) Little Auk Black Redstart (All) Nutcracker Puffin Redstart (All) Jackdaw (>25 R B) Feral Rock Dove (>100) Whinchat (All) Rook (>50 R B) Stock Dove (>100) Stonechat (All) Carrion Crow (>10 R) Wood Pigeon (>100) Wheatear (All) Hooded Crow Collared Dove (>25 R) Rock Thrush Raven Turtle Dove (All) Ring Ouzel (All) Starling (>100R) Ring-necked Parakeet (All) Blackbird (TC U) Rose-coloured Starling Monk Parakeet (All) Fieldfare (>20 F/L P) House Sparrow (>30 R) Cuckoo (B F/L) Song Thrush (TC U) Tree Sparrow (All) Barn Owl (All) Redwing (>10 F/L P) Chaffinch (>25) Little Owl (All) Mistle Thrush (>10) Brambling (All) Tawny Owl (B) Cetti's Warbler (All) Serin Long-eared Owl (All) Grasshopper Warbler (All) Greenfinch (>20 R) Short-eared Owl (All) Savi's Warbler Goldfinch (>10) Nightjar Aquatic Warbler Siskin (MM B) Swift (>50 F/L C) Sedge Warbler (TC F/L) Linnet (>20) Alpine Swift Paddyfield Warbler Twite Kingfisher (MM,B) Marsh Warbler Lesser (All) Bee-eater Reed Warbler (B F/L) Mealy Redpoll (All) Roller Great Reed Warbler Arctic Redpoll Hoopoe Melodious Warbler Two-barred Crossbill Wryneck Dartford Warbler Common Crossbill (All) Green Woodpecker Barred Warbler Common Rosefinch (MM,B) Lesser Whitethroat Bullfinch (All) Great Spotted (TC,F/L) Hawfinch (All) Woodpecker (MM B) Whitethroat (TC F/L) Snow Bunting Lesser Spotted Garden Warbler (TC F/L) Yellowhammer (>20 R) Woodpecker (MM B) Blackcap (TC F/L W) Cirl Bunting Short-toed Lark Yellow-browed Warbler Ortolan Bunting Woodlark Wood Warbler (All) Rustic Bunting Skylark (>25, P) Chiffchaff (TC F/L W) Little Bunting >25 P Hirundines (mixed) Willow Warbler (TC F/L) Reed Bunting (>5) Sand Martin (>30 P F/L C) Goldcrest (>2 B) Corn Bunting (>5 B R) Swallow (>50 P F/L C) Firecrest (All) All Escapes Red-rumped Swallow Spotted Flycatcher (B F/L) House Martin (>50 P F/L) Red-breasted Flycatcher Any other species not Tree Pipit (All) Pied Flycatcher (All) listed Meadow Pipit (>5 P B) Bearded Tit (All) Rock Pipit (All) Long-tailed Tit (>10) Water Pipit (All) Marsh Tit (B) Herts Bird Club Yellow Wagtail (B F/L P) Willow Tit Scientific Committee Blue headed Wagtail Coal Tit (TC) July 2009 Grey Wagtail (MM B) Blue Tit (>10 TC) Pied Wagtail (MM >10 R) Great Tit (>10 TC) White Wagtail (All) Nuthatch (TC) Waxwing (All) Treecreeper (TC) Dipper Golden Oriole Wren (TC U) Red-backed Shrike Dunnock (TC U) Great Grey Shrike Robin (TC U) Woodchat Shrike Nightingale (All) Jay (>2)